Created in December 1970, the Authority has as its goal the promotion of the areas mineral, energy, hydraulic, and agricultural resources within a regional framework. The zone covered by the authority corresponds to the border regions of the three countries, and covers an area of 370,000 km², including 19 provinces of Burkina Faso, 4 administrative regions of Mali, and two departments and an urban community of Niger.

This zone is composed entirely of the semi-arid Sahel region. The dominant economic activity is agriculture and livestock herding, but the zone has considerable energy, hydraulic, and mining potential.

The sixth conference of the heads of state took place in Gao on April 25 and 26, 2005, with Burkina's president Blaise Compaoré acting as president of the Authority. The next conference is scheduled to take place in 2006 in Tillabery, Niger.

On 24 January 2017, the three states agreed to form a joint task force to combat insecurity and terrorism in the region, to be headquartered in Niamey, with rotating leadership to represent all three nations. The move was modeled on the establishment of a multi-national force in 2015 by Chad, Cameroon, Niger and Nigeria to oppose Boko Haram in the Lake Chad basin.[1]